Pre-Columbian history of Costa Rica

The pre-Columbian history of Costa Rica ranges from the establishment of the first settlers until the arrival of Christopher Columbus to the Americas.

There is archaeological evidence that allows us to place the arrival of the first humans to Costa Rica between 7000 and 10000 B.C. In Costa Rica during the second millennium BC. sedentary farming communities already existed.

Between 300 B.C. and 300 A.D. many communities changed from the tribal organization or name: Republic, based on kinship relations, hierarchical and sparsely self-sustainable production, a hierarchical organization, with Cacique, religious leaders or shaman's, artisans specialists, etc.. This social organization emerged because of the need to organize production, exchange, and directing relations with other communities; as well as offensive and defensive activities. These groups established broader territorial divisions to produce more food and controlling sources of raw materials.

From the ninth century certain villages grew in size leading to the era of late chiefdoms, which would last until the sixteenth century, with greater social hierarchy and construction of major infrastructure projects.

Ancient History

First settlers

The presence of humans in Americas was a phenomenon much later than in other continents, just as dating from about 40000 or 50000 years before Christ, and some people even suggest a later date. In any case, during the last glacial period concentration of ice on the continents took down the level of the oceans at about 120 meters, so that groups of hunters in north-east Asia moved eastward in Towards the herds of animals, and in several waves traveled and settled in North America. Over the course of several millennia and successive generations, the descendants of those hunters were distributed throughout the American continent and neighboring islands.

There is archaeological evidence that allow us to place the arrival of the first humans to Costa Rica between 7000 and 10000 B.C.. In the valley of Turrialba sites have been found in areas where quarry and workshop tools were manufactured, such as bifaces. It is thought that these first settlers of Costa Rica and belonged to small nomadic groups of about 20 to 30 members, bound by kinship, which moved continuously to gather roots and wild plants and hunt animals. In addition to the species that still exist today, among their usual prey animals were of the so-called mega-fauna such as armadillos and sloths giant mastodon, and so on.

Period Cenolítico

Around 8000 B.C. climatic changes that occurred meant the end of glaciation. The increase in temperature resulted in substantial changes in vegetation and saw the extinction of mega-fauna, either by the disappearance of plants consumed by excessive depredation hunters or by a combination of both phenomena. The hunter-gatherers had to develop strategies to adapt to new conditions, although the game continued with minor species, such as tapirs, Zain, deer, etc. The wealth of tropical vegetation had the advantage, moreover, to enable them to survive in different times of year.

It is thought that human groups remained small, about 30 to 100 members, organized in gangs or semi-nomadic devoted to gathering and hunting. However, knowledge about the local environment lead to repeatedly going to certain areas depending on the time, ripening of fruit, producing some wild plants that they were already familiar (and later would be the basis for agricultural production) or the availability of other resources. Along those routes there was such things that could be used as temporary shelters rock ledges, or establish camps open pit with tapavientos or other temporary buildings.

There were workshops, cookers and some other fragmentary evidence of life of these groups in the valley of Turrialba and in various spots of Guanacaste. In this era continued to manufacture specialized tools for various activities, and some artifacts such as scrapers, knives and spear tips differ in shape and size in relation to those of hunters mega-fauna.